Wireless communication devices have a wide range of form factors. Some form factors may be suitable for outdoor use. A team of field workers may carry wireless communication devices that network with each other over a radio access network, such as cellular, Wi-Fi, or mesh. The radio access network carries communications between wireless communications devices and application servers. Network communication likely uses Internet Protocol and perhaps involves the Internet.
A wireless communication device may have a touch display, as does a phablet. A display may show a geographic map marked up to reveal important objects within a vicinity. The geo-location or geo-position, identity, and attributes of important objects may be reported by a remote service. The display of various subsets of objects upon a geographic map can be toggled according to meaningful criteria. Touch gestures such as dragging enable direct manipulation of objects drawn on a map. Touch gestures can manipulate the map to pan and zoom and multi-select objects on the map.
Some wireless communications regard device control functions or network control functions, which can affect the services of some wireless communication devices. Direct control of communication resources can impact quality of service. The availability of some features may depend on user authentication and authorization.
Wireless communication devices may stream live data such as video and other sensor input. When multiple wireless communication devices stream at least live audio to each other, a voice conference is possible. A person acting as a dispatcher may use voice calls to interact with field workers. The supervisory nature of the dispatcher role is suited to a larger display size, as available on a laptop or phablet. A field worker with preoccupied hands might instead need a smaller device such as a cell phone or walkie-talkie. An emergency responder in an extreme environment may need a rugged communication device that is head mounted or otherwise wearable and hands free.